Let's start with what it does not do: It does not check for new versions of foobar2000 or any components. It is also not a change log reader. It merely detects available features and reports if some were added or removed compared to the last time you ran foobar2000. The types of features we are talking about here are main and context menu commands, preferences pages, Columns UI panels, advanced settings, and more.

Why would I use it?

You don't want to spend time looking for new features after updating foobar2000 or installing or updating one of your components, and the change log is vague or not available, or you are just not the kind of person who reads these things. Perhaps you are new to foobar2000 and don't have the first clue where to go looking for new features.

So how does it work?

Every time you start foobar2000, the component scans the available features. When it detects that some features have been added or removed, it will display a notification icon on the taskbar to make you aware of that. If you click the balloon tooltip or double-click the icon, the component will open a window with a list of the changes. You can also access this window from the main menu (Help/What's New?).

What are the restrictions?

The component only knows about certain types of features, so it may not recognize everything. Since "feature type" is one of the types of feature it does recognize, you will be informed by the component, if its feature recognition ability is enhanced.It cannot detect changes in the implementation of a feature, and currently it cannot detect if a feature is renamed.

I want to try it. Where do I get it?

The component can be downloaded from the official components site. You can also find installation instructions there. Note that you will need Windows XP or better to use it.

Ideas for future improvements

A feature browser that can display all installed features and allows filtering by name and feature type.

On the first run, the component displays all detected features. While this gives an immediate impression of what it does, the displayed list can be a bit overwhelming even on a bare-bones foobar2000 installation. A better idea would be to launch the feature browser on the first run (and change the text on the notification icon accordingly).

Easier access to features.log which is created in the foobar2000 profile directory.

This doesn't seem to be working for me - and just me - with either portable or standard installations, clean or otherwise.features.dat and features.log are generated in the foobar2000 dir and are not empty, and the balloon tip is triggered on adding/removing things, but the window that displays features is entirely empty.Foobar 1.1.7, Windoze 7 x64, fully updated. Thanks to IRC lurkers for help btw